Monday Night Raw Review - January 9, 2023

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

Kevin Owens def. Baron Corbin

Corbin and JBL had been absent from Raw for about a month before resurfacing here. I'm a Corbin fan, but I doubt they were missed by many. I loved how JBL acknowledged that Corbin was the last person to pin Roman Reigns over three years ago, with the story being that Owens had to prove he could beat Corbin in order to beat Reigns at the Royal Rumble. This was a decent television match albeit nothing out of the ordinary.

Uncle Howdy Interrupted Alexa Bliss

I was optimistic when Bliss was shown standing on the commentary table looking like her heel self from her Five Feet of Fury days, but then clips of her as "evil" Alexa were shown quickly on the Titantron, so that version of her may be coming back after all. I really hope not because it ran its course in 2021 and it severely limits her on the mic and in the ring. Bliss didn't say much before Uncle Howdy emerged, and that amounted to nothing because they cut to commercial a short time later.

Bayley def. Michin

Michin was announced as Mia Yim by Mike Rome but was referred to as Michin in the graphic and by the commentators, so that's what I'm sticking with. When Bayley said she was giving Dakota Kai and IYO SKY the night off, I was convinced Becky Lynch would come out and cost her the win, but I'm glad they didn't take that predictable route. The match was well-wrestled, but it felt like half of it consisted of a commercial break, so it never had a chance to reach that next gear.

United States Champion Austin Theory Was Interrupted by Seth "Freakin" Rollins and Attacked by Bobby Lashley

For those unaware, Rollins was apparently legitimately hurt during his main event match with Theory last week on Raw. He was seen limping to the back after the show went off the air, but I wasn't sure if he was just selling or not. He mentioned in this segment that he'll be cleared to compete by the Rumble, so that's positive news. I enjoyed their exchange and Lashley returning was a pleasant surprise. His backstage confrontation with MVP confirmed The Hurt Business is on their way back and I couldn't be happier.

Rhea Ripley def. Candice LeRae

I was looking forward to this match because of their history from NXT, but it basically ended up being a glorified squash and I honestly don't have an issue with that. Yes, I'd like to see WWE do more with LeRae to get her over with the audience, but this was all about establishing Ripley's dominance and I don't think the timing was a coincidence with the Rumble right around the corner. She's the only logical candidate to win the women's Rumble match in my opinion.

Solo Sikoa def. Dolph Ziggler

I'm not high on Sikoa having competitive matches with undercard competitors, but unlike Elias, at least Ziggler is incredibly accomplished and a former world champion (despite not being booked like one in close to a decade). This was well worked and, as expected, Ziggler's selling for Sikoa was the highlight of this match. Sikoa remains the best booked NXT call-up in recent memory. WWE has been doing everything right with him.

The Miz Hosted Miz TV with The Judgment Day

On one hand, I'm glad Miz appears to be done with Dexter Lumis, but on the other, there's no need for him to continue interacting with Bronson Reed in any capacity. Just let Reed do his thing in the ring and kill dudes, please. As for this segment, it was entertaining. Dominik Mysterio has really come into his own as a heel and all of the talk from him doing "hard time" in jail was hilarious. WWE is basically killing time with him until WrestleMania 39 draws closer so he can formally rekindle his rivalry with Rey.

The Judgment Day (Finn Balor/Dominik Mysterio and Damian Priest) def. The Street Profits, Alpha Academy, Cedric Alexander & Shelton Benjamin, and The O.C. (Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) in a Raw Tag Team Championship No. 1 Contender's Tag Team Turmoil Match

It's worth noting that it was specifically said multiple times that this was for an opportunity at the Raw Tag Team Championship, not the Undisputed WWE Tag Team Championship, so that isn't a typo on my end. Are they going to split the tag titles before WrestleMania? At any rate, Anderson went from getting the singles spotlight at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 and losing the NEVER Openweight Championship to Tama Tonga to being a part of the first team jobbed out here. I'd say that's a shame, but then again, he was the one who agreed to return to WWE for all the money they were probably offering him, so I can't say I have much sympathy. This Tag Team Turmoil match lasted almost the entire three hour, so although it was structured nicely and ate up a ton of time, it didn't get truly interesting until it came down to Judgment Day and Street Profits (Dominik filled in for Finn Balor at that point because Balor wasn't cleared in kayfabe). Judgment Day are fresh challengers for The Usos, but their match will have an interesting dynamic with both teams being heel.

Overall Show

Raw didn't start the year off strong with last week's episode and this wasn't the best effort, either. Although the shows haven't been actively bad, they have been fairly boring and uneventful. It truly feels like they're filling the three hours with inconsequential matches just to coast by and nothing really matters. I appreciated the main event having stakes and it was the highlight of the night from an in-ring standpoint, but it was hardly the most memorable Gauntlet match I've seen in recent years. Raw needs a real shot in the arm to better the build for the Royal Rumble. I'm also amazed not a single thing has been said about or advertised for Raw's 30th anniversary show in two weeks.

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